Kevin & Avonte’s Law

ABOUT KEVIN & AVONTE’S LAW OF 2016

A 2015 study found that 27% of children with developmental disabilities are reported to wander (or “elope”) from safe settings each year. In 2015, 31 individuals with autism died after wandering away from a safe setting.

– Ensure that grants from the U.S. Department of Justice can be used by state and local law enforcement agencies and nonprofits for education and training programs to proactively prevent and locate missing individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities.

– Make resources available to equip first responders and other community officias with the training necessary to better prevent and respond to these cases.

WE ASK FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF H.R. 4919, KEVIN AND AVONTE’S LAW

Status:

Kevin and Avonte’s Law passed in the U.S. Senate — thank you for your support! We now need your support of the House bill, H.R. 4919.

Take Action:

What to Say:

I am calling/writing to ask you to co-sponsor Kevin and Avonte’s Law, H.R. 4919.

If enacted, H.R. 4919 would help families like mine, and would work to keep children with autism — and other developmental disabilities — safe.

Thank you for helping to protect some of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens.

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WHO WE ARE

The Autism Safety Coalition is a group of national organizations working together to advocate for national policies that will increase the public safety of people with autism and other developmental disabilities.

missingkids.com PSA

Watch a PSA video from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

AUTISM & WANDERING

- 49% of children with autism engage in wandering behaviors
- 35% attempt to wander at least once per week
- More than one third of children with autism who wander are never or rarely able to communicate their name, address, or phone number
- 29% of wandering happens from a classroom or school
- 53% of those who exhibited elopement behavior, went missing long enough to cause concern
- 42% of cases involving a child with autism 9 and younger end in death
- Accidental drowning accounts for approximately 90% of lethal outcomes

This website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or an endorsement of any clinical or therapeutic method, treatment, service, safety device, safety product, organization or vendor.